Scripture

One day last week after a long suffering bout where I had felt like I was dangling over a deep canyon and just the tiniest error on my part or a soft whiff of wind would send me plummeting into the deep and… end, many confusing thoughts and swirling emotions gripped me. It was a […]

Inspirations

I have had more excruciating suffering bouts the past week but I won’t distress you with them. What good would that do? You know what I’m going through and how I cling to my Savior and Healer. I am thankful that joy adamantly adheres to me in spite of the suffering, a staunch ally against […]

Testimony

Like any other testimony of God’s wonders and grace, whether a major one or of the everyday kind, this story began at the deepest end of human emotions: weariness, anger, resentment, lostness, helplessness. Of hope flying away; faith groping in the dark; heart bordering to rebellion. Against God. A body and heart that have been so […]

Life Lessons

Even as I cling to this, that to be wholly God’s is the whole meaning and purpose of life, I still intentionally pursue it with a single-minded determination through the moments of everyday. I mean, it could easily wriggle out of one’s grasp like a slippery fish. And there are moments still that it’s hard […]

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving;
Sing praises on the harp to our God,
8 Who covers the heavens with clouds,
Who prepares rain for the earth,
Who makes grass to grow on the mountains.
9 He gives to the beast its food,And to the young ravens that cry. (vv. 7-9)

In this psalm, the psalmist once again praises the glory, grace, and goodness of God. There are many things going on in this psalm, but I’d like us to bring our focus on this:

He heals the brokenhearted
And binds up their wounds. (v. 3)

This has been our running theme in recent posts – how that the Lord weaves a beautiful love story in our lives if only we give ourselves wholly to Him. The above verse gave a name to my story. Before I gave my life to Jesus, broken in body, heart, and spirit, I never thought that He alone could heal my brokenness and bind up my gaping wounds. The devil is way too cruel to leave you with a flimsy thread of hope of ever mending, once you ventured anywhere near his lair. Like living a life of adultery. You become his. That’s exactly how he left me – helplessly clinging to the thin thread that connected me to whatever was left of my life.

Then Jesus came, with His power, light, and love. I thought I only sought Him for forgiveness of my sins so I could die at peace with God. But there was also hope that maybe He’d be merciful enough to heal my body, too. But He did much more than anything I had hoped for. His grace abounded to me. “…But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound” (Rom. 5:20). He redeemed my soul, cleansed me from the sin of my dark past, restored my family, healed our broken hearts and bound up our wounds.

He can easily do those things in just one stroke of His powerful hand. “He sends out His command to the earth; His word runs very swiftly” (v. 15). And yet, there are still many who don’t want to be anywhere near Him. They insist on seeking cure for their ailments elsewhere, not knowing that it’s probably their souls that were sick and suffering and need healing.

My prayer for the broken is this: That the Savior Jesus Christ be their Redeemer, Healer, Restorer. That He will reign in their hearts and minds and be their Lord and King.

The psalmist cries out to God to be delivered from lying lips. False witness and accusations, stories that reek of lies to deceive, or just plain dishonesty to cover up a greater sin – these are all practiced everyday in the world without even a thought or feelings of guilt. For most people, that is, people who are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit, lying is natural. It is their native tongue. But whether dark lies or white lies, they are lies and God hates them so much that it is written in Revelation 21:8, together with other sins: …all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

The Lord is Truth (John 14:6) and speaks only what is true. Lying is from the devil.

You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:44, emphasis added)

What a dark and disorderly world, family, relationship, or individual life that does not walk in truth but in dishonesty! There is no real peace where there is no real honesty. Lying could wreck relationships, families, or even a nation. That is what our country is going through right now. In the case of the “Pork Barrel Scam” that has plagued Philippine politics, the lies of one person or her simply not telling the truth can stagnate the growth of the nation and prevent it from advancing to where it should be going: honest governance and the establishing of lasting peace and prosperity.

I used to be a child of the “father of lies”, too. I lied through my teeth; made up stories to cheat and cover up my sins. Lying and dishonesty were just two of the things that wrecked my marriage. But the Lord has long restored and transformed our lives; the ugliness He has long turned into beauty; and the life of sin He has turned into a shining testimony.

Life in the Lord with the Holy Spirit’s indwelling is a life of truth, devoid of lies. What freedom! It is like being pierced through with a powerful laser beam but there is nothing untrue hidden there. It is all light.

The psalmist desperately asks:

3 What shall be given to you,
Or what shall be done to you,
You false tongue? (v. 3)

Lying is weeded out when the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ enters one’s life. This is the work of the Gospel of peace: to bring everyone into the truth and obtain salvation. It is only by being born again, born of the Spirit, that we cease to be the children of the father of lies and become true children of God.

(The beautiful photo is owned by a JMCIM sister in Christ; edited at picmonkey.com).

I would like to pursue the topic on the armor of God for I myself need to be daily reminded by what it really means to be donned in full battle gear, especially when we do find ourselves in the heat of the battle. Are we prepared to go out to the battlefield? Or what if we suddenly find ourselves helplessly plunged into the midst of it? Are we vulnerable or impenetrable?

I’ve found the answer to that during a recent crisis in our family. After one whole week of fever, cough, and colds, Tim was finally able to go back to school for a full week. After that, he was down with the severe cough again and this time, it was worse. He was really struggling. I had to take care of him myself because my husband left for the fasting house to offer three days prayer with fasting. You can’t imagine the wrestlings I went through as I, an ailing person myself, rallied all my strength and faith to storm heaven for my son’s healing.

Why do we need the armor? To withstand the devil and to stand.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Eph. 6:13)

A close look at the whole armor:

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph. 6: 11-17)

TruthRighteousnessGospel of peaceFaithSalvationWord of God

Truth

It is very important to be protected by the truth. God’s truth. We learn the truth from the Bible and from the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. (John 16:13)

It is important to be established in the truth, for Satan is in the business of twisting it, using all manners of deception – new philosophies and strange teachings, false doctrines – to dissuade Christians from the truth and away from God.

Righteousness

We guard our hearts from everything that defiles for “God hath not called us unto uncleanness, but unto holiness” (1 Thess. 4:7). When Satan sees that we are compromising holiness in our lives, he takes the opportunity and swoops down to devour his prey: tempting and pushing his victim deeper to do that which is unrighteous and unholy.

Gospel of Peace

Why shod our feet with the Gospel of peace? I think this is symbolical. Isaiah 52:7 comes to mind: “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation…” When we go and preach the Gospel of salvation to all men, near (our neighbours, friends, colleagues) or far, the enemy is threatened, defeated, while we become victorious doing the will of God.

Faith and the Word of God

These two were what held me in the heat of the battle as I wrestled against the havoc the devil wreaked in our family the past days: my husband was away fasting, I was ill while I took care of my sick son, and all the emotional, mental and spiritual upheavals that came with the fight. I could have easily unravelled (I was on the verge!) and lost it and poured out my complaints against heaven, giving in to the devil’s desire. The weariness and weakness were so overpowering I wanted to question God. But I did not. In the day of evil, my faith and God’s Word which I hold closely to my heart, held me together. They came through for me and I was able to stand.

Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee. (Ps. 119:11)

I also prayed back to the Lord His own Word, as I, like Jacob, wrestled for His blessing.

Salvation

This is what prods us to stand against the devil, for we want to protect our salvation with our very lives until we see our Lord again.

The morning of the day before the last crusade that we were going to, I walked to the bathroom to wash and prepare for the day. As I stood at the sink, something pierced my right eye so painful I had to hold onto the counter to steady myself. It wasn’t an insect; it wasn’t something that I could see. Something invisible pricked my eye so deep the pain coursed through it and it was some time before I recovered and continued to wash.

(image from Google)

I thought I knew who was responsible for it.

The pain in my eye stayed until the next morning, the day when we were traveling to Calamba, Laguna to support the crusade of our church there. When I looked in the mirror, my eye was so red and swollen and awfully painful. I had a sore eye, but never for a moment did I think of backing out from the trip. This crusade was the last for the year, and though the adversary, the devil, had had many attempts of harassing me from day one, from the first crusade at the start of summer, to dissuade me from crusading, and had not succeeded – obviously, he was not about to let up.

After supper of the first day of crusade, while we lounged at our rented cottage, we practiced a Tagalog praise song which we were beginning to love. Over and over, we sang the beautiful song, our hands raised, hearts rejoicing, love fervent. Oh, how the demons who only exist to rile and derail a believer’s resolve to worship and serve the living God could have been trembling!

That night, still with my painful swollen eye accompanied by a slight fever, I had a restless sleep. In the morning, Hannah (who was then 5 1/2 years old) and I bathed in our private hot spring pool. After our luxurious bath (though I still had a fever), we were ready for the second day of crusade. The whole day, I had to wear my shades to protect my eye. And I had to lie down in our astrovan a few times to rest. But when the crusade ended, I was well. My eye had been healed. We went home victorious.

The day we received the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior and began our journey of faith, we also acquired an adversary – God’s enemy, the devil. And from day one, he has assigned one (or more!) of his ministers (demons) who would attempt to do everything to take us back to his camp. And we can be very vulnerable to his attacks. That is, if we allow him to or if we don’t know how to resist him.

We are instructed to resist the devil. How? By submitting ourselves to God. Only God can protect us from the works of darkness. “If God be for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31). But we have to do our part. This is our assignment:

11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

14 Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness;

15 And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace;

16 Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.

17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Eph. 6: 11-17, emphasis added)

We are in a spiritual warfare and we need to put on the whole armor of God:

Watch JMCIM Live Webcast

Like Our Healing Moments on Facebook

Recent Media

My Latest photos

Follow Our Healing Moments

Encouraged? Inspired? Hungry for more? Sign up for email subscription and never miss a post! It's all His grace!

Email Address

About Our Healing Moments

It is my hope and prayer that this place, where like a drink offering, I pour out my heart and soul through words, will be a place where you find comfort and refreshment for your spirit. May you "meet" the Savior here and leave blessed, in any form that you need His blessing. View my complete profile.